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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Pata" data-source="post: 450930" data-attributes="member: 2136">ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada: This World Cup for Sri Lanka has been all about adapting to conditions.Now it is getting ready to play a semifinal on a bouncy wicket in Jamaica, Sri Lanka feels it is finally getting somewhere that will really suit its play.Although many sides have said the slow pitches in Guyana, Antigua and Grenada are similar to those in Sri Lanka, captain Mahela Jayawardene is adamant his batsmen prefer the faster track expected at Sabina Park."We like bouncy wickets," Jayawardene said. "Like any other cricketers in the world, our batsmen love to play on bouncy tracks when the ball is coming onto the bat."Obviously, it's very hard for batsmen to score runs when it's not coming on."That wasn't what stopped Sri Lanka building a big score in its final Super 8s game at Grenada National Stadium on Wednesday.It bowled out Ireland for 77, the lowest total of any side in this tournament.Sri Lanka's batsmen then reached 81-2 with 40 of 50 overs left, Jayawardene hitting 39 from 27 balls, including six fours and a six.The captain wasn't concerned that, coming after a seven-wicket loss to Australia when he rested his first-choice bowling attack, his team may be without practice when Tuesday's semifinal comes around."We've played enough competitive games. We've been playing some really good cricket," Jayawardene said after Wednesday's eight-wicket win over Ireland. "It was a really good performance today because we made sure that we put our foot down."Sri Lanka's batsmen appear to have managed well on all the tracks they've played upon, losing narrowly to South Africa and then to Australia only when it knew it had already reached the semifinals.Only Kumar Sangakkara and opener Upul Tharanga seem to be struggling with form.Sangakkara went for 10 against Ireland while Tharanga was out for nought in the first over of his team's reply.While Sangakkara's brilliant wicketkeeping makes him undroppable — getting rid of Eoin Morgan on Wednesday with an acrobatic one-handed catch to his left — Jayawardene conceded that Tharanga's place is under consideration, with veteran Marvan Atapattu a possible replacement."That's something we'll have to think about," Jayawardene said. "He's hitting the ball pretty well but he's just not spending time out there in the middle."Marvan is an experienced player in our ranks who can step into the shoes if it's necessary. We'll have a chat with the selectors, we'll have a chat with the senior group and see in Jamaica."Otherwise, Sri Lanka looks to be in pretty good shape for a likely meeting with New Zealand.Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan returned against Ireland after sitting out the Australia game. Leftarm paceman Vaas took one wicket and star spinner Muralitharan collected 4-19. Farveez Maharoof took 4-25 as he continued to fill in for the dangerous Lasith Malinga.Malinga has missed three games after straining left ankle ligaments in training but should return for the semifinal."He's probably 90 percent OK," Jayawardene said. "We probably should have played him today but we didn't want to take the risk."He's bowled 10 overs in the nets this morning no problems. We just need to make sure he gradually comes up. We don't want to take too many risks."With Malinga having taken 15 wickets before succumbing to injury and Maharoof in form, Dilhara Fernando, who played against Australia with an ankle problem that required two injections, may struggle to get back in the team even if he is fit.Having progressed to the semifinals in relative ease, Sri Lanka is now just two wins away from repeating its shock triumph of 1996, when it beat Australia in the final."The semifinal is a very big hurdle for us to jump. We're looking forward to it," Jayawardene said. "When we left Sri Lanka these are the targets we set. Getting to the semifinals and looking forward from that."We've come a long way and there's no looking back for us now."</blockquote>

Verification: Hathara warak wissa keeyada? (Hathara wadi karanna 20)

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